InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Journey of the soul: The panther devas' plot ❯ Spies ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the actual work of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them in any way.

 

Special acknowledgment: Many thanks to kikyounokanashii for her amazing job on this chapter :).

 

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Chapter 19: Spies

 

Hobbling helplessly behind his master, Jaken tried his best to keep up with Sesshomaru's long and purposeful strides. It was a difficult thing to do considering his legs were quite a great deal shorter than the inu-youkai in front of him, but he managed, knowing that the alternative would be much worse than slight exhaustion.

 

Having been in Sesshomaru's service for years now, he had learned through some rather painful experiences when his master was not to be disturbed no matter what... and now was definitely one of those times. Ever since his rejection by Tessaiga, the youkai kept even more to himself than usual (if that were possible) and his patience normally very thin had completely disappeared.

 

"He's like a volcano ready to explode," reflected the toad grimly.

 

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Sesshomaru stopped. The change of pace was so sudden that it was all Jaken could do to keep from bumping straight into his master, something which would have warranted instant punishment. Fearful that this abrupt halt had been his fault in some way, the toad looked up, but was relieved to see Sesshomaru's attention was not on him. Instead, his gaze was riveted on the form of a kitsune leaning casually on a nearby tree.

 

"Well, that sure is a surprise, the great lord of the west himself. How long has it been since you showed your face so far east?" questioned the youkai lightly.

 

"I have not come here to talk about such trivial matter, Ryo," replied Sesshomaru levelly.

 

The kitsune smiled, his green eyes lighting up with amusement.

 

"Still as stuck up as ever, I see. So, what can I do for you?"

 

"I need someone skilled enough to sneak into the panther devas' castle and find out what they are planning."

 

"Whooey," whistled Ryo in obvious surprise. "Now that's what I call an assignment. And just what do you plan on giving me in return if I do decide to undergo this suicide mission?" replied Ryo while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

 

"Anything reasonable," answered Sesshomaru, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

 

At this, the kitsune smiled and looked up at the sky dreamily. "I've met a girl recently. She was unlike any I've ever met before. Her black hair was wonderfully soft and shiny, her eyes were the most perfect shade of hazel and her tail... god her tail was just..."

 

"Your point!" interrupted the inu-youkai sharply.

 

Snapping out of his reverie, Ryo coughed chuckled nervously. "She and I want to become mates... but her parents do not approve."

 

"So you want me to dispose of them?"

 

The kitsune raised an eyebrow in surprise and shook his head wryly, making his red ponytail sway left and right in the process. "Oh no, nothing even remotely so dramatic. I merely want you to put in a good word for me. Surely, if the lord of the west himself speaks on my behalf, then it will be enough to sway them."

 

"I have no time to waste on such childish matters," shot back Sesshomaru while turning to leave.

 

"And how much time do you think you'll waste if you don't take me up on my offer?"

 

Sesshomaru stopped dead in his tracks.

 

"How many people do you think will be willing to accomplish such a dangerous mission? And, more importantly, just how many will have the necessary skills to come back alive? Face it, unless you go along with me, you'll be wasting even more time."

 

Sesshomaru remained silent as he digested the kitsune's words. He knew that what Ryo had just said was the truth. There was not a single youkai out there who could infiltrate Toran's stronghold and live to tell about it. Looking for someone else would be even more time-consuming... but Sesshomaru wasn't one to just go along with what someone else had told him. He had his pride after all.

 

Casting his eyes skyward, the inu-youkai judged the time to be around mid-morning. Ryo's offer entailed that he present himself to the girl's parents and convince them to give their daughter to the kitsune. Hours of negotiations versus hours and maybe days of searching. Irritation flared inside Sesshomaru as he realized that the best course of action was to accept the kitsune's offer. Narrowing his eyes, he returned his gaze to Ryo and narrowed his eyes at him.

 

"Nightfall, not a minute longer... And you go, no matter what the outcome."

 

"Fair enough," replied the kitsune, his entire features lighting up with visible glee.

 

Standing a few steps away, Jaken, who had remained silent through this whole exchange, saw his master's jaw tighten imperceptibly and that made a shiver run down his spine. The toad had not seen his master's calm and composed mask break often, but whenever such a thing occurred, he knew that the only way to survive was to run for cover, for an angry Sesshomaru was the last thing you wanted to be confronted with.

 

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As a lord, Sesshomaru expected proper respect from his vassals. It was natural considering he was the one who protected the lands and allowed it to prosper. However, there were times, like now, when the inu-youkai would give just about everything to dispense with all the annoying formalities and just go straight to business.

 

But of course, one did not break protocol without a valid reason so Sesshomaru was forced to sit through his host's idea of an entertainment while he had a decent meal prepared. The kitsune, Rinku he though his name was, had gotten his two sons all dressed up and they were now crossing swords not ten feet away. The two fighters were graceful and fluid in their movements... but the number of flaws in their forms was astounding, if not downright shameful. If he ever decided to join the mock battle, he would have these two down and on the ground in three seconds flat.

 

He was beginning to seriously consider rampaging through the house when finally, the shoji door slid open to reveal an elderly woman carrying trays of food and sake. This seemed to mark the end of the entertainment because as soon as everything was neatly arranged, the fighters sheathed their swords and respectfully saluted before taking their leave, thus marking the beginning of the business meeting.

 

"My lord, you really must excuse our simple festivities. Your presence here today was most unexpected. I hope you found my sons' performance to your liking," greeted the older kitsune respectfully.

 

"They were entertaining enough," lied the inu-youkai emotionlessly.

 

Knowing it would be an insult not to help himself to the offered food, Sesshomaru promptly put some fish in his plate and froze when he took his first bite.

 

"Is something not to your liking my lord?"

 

"This fish... who prepared it?" he asked without preamble.

 

"My... my daughter," stuttered Rinku nervously. "Would you like me to have her brought here?"

 

Sesshomaru merely nodded, his eyes trying to bore a hole through his food. Gulping, his host straightened and clapped twice. Not a second later, the door slid open once more to reveal a young kitsune girl. She was nothing short of breathtaking. Her black hair shone in the light of the room, her green eyes sparkled with intelligence, her thick tail swayed elegantly with each graceful steps... she was definitely a sight for sore eyes. Even Sesshomaru had to admit that the girl was beautiful, though he did so in a purely objective way.

 

He also had to give credit to her self-control because, even though it was plain she was intimidated by his presence, her composure remained absolutely intact, even when she knelt before him in a respectful salute before turning an inquiring gaze to her father.

 

"You called for me father?" she asked softly.

 

"His lordship has a few questions to ask you," answered Rinku sharply.

 

Taking that as his cue, Sesshomaru started his interrogation. "I understand you are the one who prepared this meal?"

 

"That is correct my lord."

 

"Only an imperial cook would think of seasoning the fish like you did. Where have you learned such a recipe?"

 

"My mother taught me everything I know, my lord. I never thought to question the origin of her recipes," answered Akane in a tight voice.

 

Sesshomaru looked up to her father for confirmation and he saw the kitsune look down. "My wife once worked in the imperial kitchen, my lord. This is where she learned most of what she taught my daughter. I assure you though, she did not mean any form of disrespect and neither did my daughter."

 

"What happened that caused your wife to flee the court and isolate herself all the way out here? Surely she would not have left such an important position without a good reason."

 

"When the Inu no Taisho took a human as his mate, she was assigned the task of seeing to her meals... she could not stand such a disgrace."

 

Sesshomaru did not answer, he remembered all too well the day his father, the most powerful and respected youkai in Japan, had lost all of his credibility and support by announcing he would be taking a human as his mate. More than half the court deserted him on the spot and those who stayed weren't exactly thrilled about the arrangement either.

 

As he pondered on this new and unexpected development, an idea to accelerate his negotiations suddenly flashed in his head.

 

"My father and his human mate are long dead. If your wife wishes to reclaim her position, the kitchens of the castle have been without a head cook since my father's debacle."

 

He saw with great satisfaction that his proposal struck home because Rinku and his daughter's features fell in utter astonishment. He also heard a suspicious thumping sound telling him that the mother he briefly saw earlier heard him too and was probably even more surprised by this proposal.

 

"M... My lord, this is... this is too much honor. How can we ever... repay you for your kindness?" asked the kitsune, still having trouble coming to term with the whole thing.

 

Sesshomaru allowed a brief spark of satisfaction to warm his chest before he suppressed it and returned to the business at hand.

 

"I understand your daughter is of age to marry," he dived in immediately.

 

Instantly, tension snapped tight in the room and his host's features turned dead serious. "That is correct my lord."

 

"I believe I might have a potential suitor for her."

 

"If my lord would be so kind as to introduce him to us, we would be most delighted to see to the arrangements."

 

He saw Akane's feature cloud over in anger and her scent spiked, but she remained dutifully silent. She had been well taught and it showed. Sesshomaru understood Ryo's infatuation in this girl, though what she found in the kitsune was beyond him. In any case, it didn't matter, he wasn't here to question his spy's motives after all.

 

"I do not believe introductions will be necessary. The suitor I had in mind is one of my agents named Ryo."

 

Dead silence met this declaration. In front of him, Rinku's features fell in astonishment and Akane's eyes widened slightly before she recovered her composure.

 

"It is true that we know of him. Yet, my initial impression of him was that of an irresponsible ruffian most unfit to be my daughter's mate," replied the kitsune testily.

 

"It is true his personality is somewhat... obnoxious. However, he is a most trustworthy individual. He has successfully accomplished many reconnaissance missions on my behalf and is about to carry out another of utmost importance," countered Sesshomaru levelly.

 

It didn't exactly please him to praise Ryo like he was doing, but it was the truth. He was rude and he loved above all else to tick people off. However, he was skilled in what he did and he also possessed a strong sense of honor and responsibility that redeemed him somewhat.

 

"My lord... you say... he is trustworthy?" questioned his host reluctantly.

 

"Yes, and he also possesses a strong sense of honor," replied the inu-youkai.

 

There was a long and pregnant pause during which Rinku took in this new bit of information and tried to weight it with what he already knew of Ryo. The girl, for her part was sitting very straight with her features carefully neutral, but her green eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

 

"I will... meet with him," finally conceded the kitsune. "And I shall... give him another chance."

 

"Very well. I shall relay the news to him at once," nodded the inu-youkai before turning to a certain toad youkai who hadn't said a thing through this entire exchange. "Jaken."

 

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?"

 

"Go back to the castle and make the necessary arrangements to accommodate our new head cook and her family," he ordered.

 

"My lord, you will not be staying the rest of the day with us?" questioned Rinku in puzzlement.

 

"I have urgent business to attend to," explained the inu-youkai calmly. "Ryo shall be with you within the hour. However, his next assignment will require him to leave at sunset. I trust you will not hinder him."

 

"Of course not, my lord."

 

"Very well then. I shall take my leave now."

 

"My lord," bowed the two kitsunes, thus marking the end of the meeting.

 

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Ryo threw the pine cone in the air and pointed his finger at it. A second later, it exploded in a shower of sparks and fox-fire, the remains falling haphazardly around him and joining the remnants of the countless other pine cones he had already destroyed. He wasn't nervous. After all, with Sesshomaru on his side, why would he be nervous?

 

No, he wasn't nervous, he was just restless. He couldn't stand to sit here and wait to see how things would turn out. He wanted to go and see Akane and hold her in his arm. He wanted her scent to blanket him and permeate through his clothes, he wanted to...

 

A familiar presence abruptly entered his field of perception, instantly making him spring to his feet. He whirled around and, sure enough, there he was, standing as tall and aloof as ever, Sesshomaru, lord of the western lands.

 

"Sesshomaru," he greeted, somewhat more respectfully than was usual for him.

 

The inu-youkai stayed silent and Ryo saw his gaze sweep over the scene, taking in every small details in the blink of an eye. When the lord's attention once again settled on him, the kitsune merely shrugged, his lips quirking up in a wry grin.

 

"I was just killing some time," he said, not at all shaken by the unnerving look he was receiving.

 

The said youkai didn't even bother to answer, he merely huffed noncommittally and narrowed his eyes at him.

 

"You are expected at Akane's home within the hour," he said emotionlessly.

 

"I am?"

 

"You are," confirmed Sesshomaru before turning around and walking away. "I shall be expecting your report one week from now at the castle. Do not disappoint me."

 

"I won't," replied Ryo enthusiastically. "I'll even find out the color of Toran's underwear while I'm at it."

 

But that last sentence was lost to the inu-youkai since he had already disappeared from view. Not that the kitsune really cared. After all, he would be marrying Akane soon and at this very moment, that was all that mattered.

 

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Toran looked at the doctor before her, her brows creased with worry. "Are you absolutely certain, doctor?"

 

"I am Toran-sama. Two soldiers out of five reacted negatively to the forkroot emanations. Even considering that some might still get sick even without being infected, this number is alarmingly high."

 

"You don't say?" reflected the panther grimly. "Naraku's toying with us! We're nothing more than puppets to him!"

 

It was true. With the new and crucial piece of information relayed by Shunran, she finally managed to figure out Naraku's true intentions. In the end, it was so damn simple it was almost scary. Infect the majority of her army and then get rid of her and her siblings. He never intended to give them the jewel in the first place, he merely used it as bait to infiltrate the castle and spread his spiders around.

 

"Is there a way to cure the infection without killing the host?" she asked after a long and pregnant pause.

 

"The spiders enter their victim's body and then feed off their blood. If we could turn the blood into poison then they would die."

 

"And how do you propose we do that?"

 

"We can make a forkroot infusion and then slip it into the garrison's food in relatively small amount so as not to draw too much attention to the taste. Two or three days of this treatment should be enough to return our troops to normal."

 

"Very well, I'll leave you in charge of this operation. I trust I do not have to tell you that absolute secrecy is needed for this entire operation to succeed?"

 

"This goes without saying, Toran-sama."

 

"Very well. Then you are dismissed."

 

The doctor bowed low and exited the panther's study. Once alone, she let out a long and weary sigh and allowed herself to slump forward and lie on her desk in a posture that was most unfit for someone of her rank. A few minutes later, she heard a knock on her door and suppressed a groan as she righted herself.

 

"Come in," she called.

 

She was relieved to see it was her sister Karan, someone in front of which maintaining composure was not necessary.

 

"What news to you bring sister?" she ask tiredly.

 

"I just wanted you to know our master's body will be in place tomorrow. And the sacrifices have also all been lined up. Everything will be finished well ahead of schedule."

 

Toran merely nodded while rubbing her temples tiredly. "That's good I suppose."

 

"You don't look too good sister, maybe you should get some rest," observed Karan worriedly.

 

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to rest. I've just learned that two soldiers out of five are infected by Naraku's spiders, this is not the type of news that I can sleep on."

 

"He infected that many in such a short time!? But then..."

 

"Yes, I know, it's likely he wanted to overthrow us. Luckily, the doctor has devised a plan to get rid of the infestation without killing the hosts. It should take two to three days to take effect though."

 

"That's a relief. Still, don't you find it odd the way we learned about this?"

 

"I do find it strange. No matter how I look at it, I can't see this as anything other than a tactical mistake. Something doesn't add up in this entire picture... but we can't afford to let this pass. We have to act while things are still more or less under control."

 

"I suppose you're right, sister. But I still think you should get some rest, you don't look too good."

 

"I suppose you might be right. However, I would feel better if you were to keep an eye on the doctor. It's imperative that nothing happens to him until our troops have been purged."

 

"I won't let him out of my sight, I promise. Now you go back to your room and get yourself a few hours of sleep before you collapse, okay?"

 

"Fine, fine," sighed Toran with a tired wave of her arm.

 

Karan shot her sister one last dubious look before she walked out the door. Finally alone, the panther yawned twice, stretched languorously for a minute and at last stood up. She had reached her limit and she knew it. Her brain was shutting down and her body was becoming excessively sluggish. The thing was that she couldn't afford to sleep now, not when close to half of her army was under Naraku's control, not when...

 

Her vision abruptly wavered and her legs gave way beneath her. Shaking her head violently to clear it, she let out a small growl of annoyance.

 

"I cannot..." but an enormous yawn split her jaw open before she could stifle it.

 

Finally, with a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and decided to give up her useless struggle. There were some battles you just couldn't win... and fighting sleep had become all but impossible for her, so she might as well give in while she still had some strength left. After all, Naraku wasn't going anywhere and her army was in the process of being cured, what more could she do right now?

 

So, with that thought in mind, she opened her study door, walked out and closed it behind her, safely sealing in the mountain of problems she had yet to solve. She knew that they would stay in there and eagerly await her return in the morning, she knew they'd jump on her the minute she opened the door again, but for the moment at least she was free of them.

 

No more Naraku with his hopelessly convoluted plans, no more shikon jewel and preparations, no more infected army to deal with. She was just Toran of the ice... and she was exhausted.

 

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Author's note: Well an interesting chapter wouldn't you think? Anyway, more next time.